Thai Chicken Pizza

Well, some things have changed around here since the last post. My bout with dairy-free has ended, but not before I was also everything else-free for a while. Oh, what horrible memories that brings back. But we've determined that Sam's fussiness is not dietary, so I'm back in the saddle again.

Last night I made Thai Chicken Pizza, which is so embarrassingly easy I feel ridiculous posting a recipes. It's mostly prepackaged ingredients, hardly any prep or cooking involved. But we're all about convenience around here these days, so I'll post it anyway.

All it takes is one prepackaged pizza crust (like Boboli); 1/2 c. Thai peanut sauce; 1 c. broccoli, finely chopped; 1/2 red pepper, finely chopped; 1 6-oz package grilled chicken breast strips, chopped; 1 c. shredded Italian or pizza blend cheese. Bake according to the crust package's directions.

The Thai peanut sauce is a little too fiery for Charlotte, so I just fixed her a plate of broccoli and chicken, which she rejected in favor of yogurt. Jeff and I, however, demolished the pizza without her help.

The results:
Jana: I like it, especially considering how easy it is to make. I think this would also be good with other veggies, like mushrooms or onions, and possibly with shrimp instead of chicken. Ooh, or beef.
Jeff: Thai? Anything Thai and peanut sauce is alright in Jeff's book.

The verdict: Make it again!

Cowboy Caviar

So, I'm swearing off dairy for a few weeks in hopes of solving Sam's gas issues. As a result, I've had to scramble to find things to make that don't include dairy. This has proved more of an issue than I anticipated, but I'm rising to the challenge. The first entry is something I've been craving anyway: Cowboy Caviar!

There are a number of variations of this recipe (as you'll discover if you Google it), but mine is a can of black beans, a bag of frozen corn kernels defrosted (I like to spring for the white and yellow sweet corn mix as the corn tends to be less chewy), a thing of fresh salsa (in the summer I use diced fresh tomatoes and onions), a whole bunch of chopped cilantro, a couple diced avocadoes, and salt. Stir and eat with tortilla chips, on tacos, over huevos rancheros.

The only thing that would make this better is cheese. Sigh.

Dutch Spice Cookies

The title of this post should tip you off: I still haven't been cooking much lately. That has as much to do with lingering iron-supplement nausea as it does with my insane end-of-semester busyness. I promise you we're eating more than just cookies around here, although if Charlotte had her way, it would be nothing but cookies morning, noon, and night. And so far this family recipe is her favorite cookie. She actually eats the entire thing instead of just nibbling a few bites and then leaving it somewhere for me to find later.

This is a family recipe, which I believe came from my grandma Terlouw (my mom's mom).

Dutch Spice Cookies (makes about four dozen)
1 cup butter, softened (two sticks)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 T. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt (more if you're using unsalted butter)
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. each nutmeg, allspice, cloves
Additional sugar and cinnamon for coating

Blend the butter and sugar together until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go. Add vanilla and mix.

Now, here's where I break the baking rules a bit: I don't sift together my dry ingredients in a separate bowl before adding to the wet ingredients. I just dump them in on top of the wet ingredients and mix them around a little bit. And my cookies always turn out okay. So, you can be a slacker like me, and your cookies will still be smaak lekker. (Is that right, dad? I'm forgetting the little Dutch I do know.)

Anyway, dump all the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and blend away. If the mixture seems too wet, don't add more flour, just chill it in the fridge for an hour. Once the dough is firm enough to handle, roll into balls (about a tablespoon's worth) and roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes. I like to err on the side of underbaking these, because they're really tasty when they're soft. Remove from pan to cool. Eat, enjoy, repeat.

Beef Stew

Yeah, remember when I thought it would be a great idea to start this blog. Oops.

Don't worry...we've been eating! My nausea isn't quite as bad as it was a few weeks ago, so I'm even managing to eat in the mornings now. But our meals have been pretty uneventful and uninventive. Boring, if you will.

But I did have a success story this week! I made one of my staples, the old stand-by: Beef Stew. I have a basic slow-cooker recipe that I followed for years, but it requires a lot of prep work: browning the meat, then sauteeing the veggies, then making a sauce with broth and flour and herbs. Hey, Slow Cooker Cookbook: I use my slow cooker to CUT BACK on cooking time. Geez. Give me a break.

But it dawned on me that maybe I don't HAVE to listen to my cookbook. So I cut out a couple of the steps. I still browned the stew beef, and then added flour and broth to the pan to make a gravy. But all the veggies (this time I used mushrooms, celery, carrots and parsnips) I just chopped and dumped in the slow cooker, and then mixed the meat and the broth in.

I was fortunate enough to make this recipe on one of the coldest days we've had so far, so walking from the bus stop shivering into a house filled with the smell of delicious stew was an experience akin to attaining enlightment. Served with mashed potatoes, it was the perfect winter meal.

Results:
Me: Love. Parsnips were a nice addition. I ate the rest of the mashed potatoes straight out of the fridge later. Shame.
Jeff: Always a fan of my beef stew.
Charlotte: I was surprised at how much she liked it! She ate a pretty large portion, and wasn't selective about just picking out mushrooms, either. Hooray!

Verdict: Make it again!

Favorites

Sometime last week I began noticing that I was feeling nauseated in the mornings and afternoons. Normally I can't wait to eat breakfast in the morning, but I began just having tea and juice because the thought of food was just too gross. By lunchtime I would be so hungry that I'd eat just about anything, but I felt sick to my stomach after. I was afraid that my pregnancy-related nausea was returning. "Good thing I still have some Zofran left from my first trimester," I mused.

Then I started thinking about how long this had been going on. I could trace it back to the week before...when I had started taking iron supplements at the behest of my doctor. A quick google search revealed that for many people taking iron can indeed cause nausea. As I take my supplement before bed, the feeling for me is usually the worst in the mornings and abates by dinnertime, when I am typically starving and ready to make up for the day's lack of calories.

All this is to say that I haven't been doing much cooking lately. Most of the time I plan and start meals in the late morning, before I head to school, so they'll be ready when I come home in the late afternoon. Making dinner is the last thing I want to do in the mornings these days.

So this has led to some creative mealtime improvisation, as well as to my trying to have a few of Charlotte's favorites always on hand. For the time being, while my nausea is still bad enough to keep me from cooking regularly, I'll post on a few of C's favorite things.

One of her favorite meals also happens to be one of mine, and fortunately is almost ridiculously easy. It's two things: a Distinctively Dole salad and a Bertolli pasta meal. I have to admit to feeling a little guilty about serving two packaged things at one dinner, but I fall victim to convenience. Plus, Charlotte can't get enough of either. Is it weird to have a two-year-old LOVE salad?

Butternut Squash-Carrot Bisque with Oatmeal Walnut Soda Bread

This meal was essentially convenience food--the bisque was a package of chopped veggies and herbs from Hy-Vee that you throw in the slow cooker with chicken broth, then puree and add milk. I added some leftover roasted carrots to make it squash-carrot bisque. And I wanted bread to go with the soup, but didn't have time to run to the store, and didn't have the time to make a yeast bread, so I made this recipe. I didn't have cake flour, so I just used another half-cup of regular flour. I think it turned out fine. I'd use this bread recipe again as a go-to quick bread.

Results:
Me: I've had better squash bisques, but for convenience, this was pretty easy.
Jeff: Liked it, got excited about the bread ("This is like the bread I'd get at the shop in Ireland!")
Charlotte: Proclaimed the soup "mmm...yummy!" but only ate two bites. Ate about the same amount of bread, too.

Verdict: A mixed bag.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole (with a side of humble pie)

I've been really bad about posting here, and I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll try to post a few new meals here over the weekend to do so. My apologies! If you've been losing sleep wondering what the Tigs are eating, or if we're eating at all, worry not. I'm seven months pregnant, remember? No chance I'm not eating.

So, sometime last week I made Spaghetti Squash Casserole. I got the recipe from a cookbook I've had for years, but it's pretty similar to this one, with the addition of a can of diced tomatoes. It's a very easy recipe, made even easier by the fact that I didn't saute the veggies, just chopped them and mixed them in with the squash. Cheater! I didn't feel like washing another pan, okay? It turned out fine, although the onions were a little crunchier than they would have been had I precooked them.

Results:
Me: Yum. Great especially with the multi-grain baguette I served it with.
Jeff: He's a fan, too.
Charlotte: Ate the mushrooms, panned the rest. I quote: "I don't LIKE spaghetti squash. I think it is yucky."

Verdict:
A mixed bag.